State of Startups 2015 – Research report from First Round Capital

First Round Capital just undertook a decent effort to look into what 500 founders across the US tech ecosystem are thinking and doing, what they’re excited about and worried about, and how they’re seeing the market. They surveyed venture-backed founders from the main cities in the US (Mainly the valley).

The key takeaways are:

It’s going to get harder to raise money

Founders think investors are going to have more power in the coming years

Most people think we are in a bubble, though enterprise startups are way more optimistic

Americans are totally PC and stressed out about appearing to be ‘diverse’

Hiring and growth stress founders out the most

Founders over 30 have less drama with cofounders. Basically kids are kids

Wearables and bitcoin are totally overhyped

Ironically, founders are stressed about failing, but not overly concerned about what is going to make them tank (ie slow growth, but not worried about churn)

Most people have a man crush on Elon

Most startups have 2 founders are are generally dudes

Engineers are getting paid a lot of cash but don’t have much equity

Not many people offer free food as you think

80% of startups have advisors on their cap table, 65% of the incentive is under 0.4%